Candlebrook Properties L.L.C. and Angelo, Gordon & Co. have snapped up Echelon Glen, an 884-unit apartment complex in Voorhees, N.J., roughly 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. The buyers are remaining mum on the financial details, but a source familiar with the transaction told Commercial Property Executive that the partners purchased the asset from UBS for $83 million.

Echelon Glen holds the distinction of being the largest multi-family community in the Voorhees area of Camden County, and for Candlebrook, the purchase of the property marked an entrée into the metropolitan Philadelphia market. It’s a market that’s been on the company’s radar since its founding in 2011. Candlebrook is an affiliate of Vantage Properties L.L.C. and was formed for the specific purpose of expanding Vantage into the Mid-Atlantic.

With Echelon Glen now under the ownership of Candlebrook and Angelo, Gordon, the 40-year-old complex will get a makeover. “We typically look to really add value both through improving the property–whether it’s through unit renovations, adding or fixing up the amenities and the common areas and maybe a little bit more focused management–and that’s been our business plan since Neil Rubler [president and CEO of Vantage] and I started together, and I really think Echelon fits that to a T,” Devin Aronstam, director of head of acquisitions for Candlebrook, told CPE.

Additionally, Aronstam said, Echelon Glen fits Candlebrook’s criterion of “well-located properties that we feel are in good markets.” Carrying the address of 225 Echelon Road, the property sits practically a stone’s throw from the 700,000-square-foot Voorhees Town Center regional shopping mall; one mile from a commuter rail station and within easy access of the major local commuting corridors and City Center Philadelphia.

“The Philadelphia MSA, since the downturn, has really experienced tightening occupancy, and rents have gone up,” Aronstam added. “If you look historically at Philadelphia, it never had the huge ramp-up during the pre-downturn days and everyone’s projecting, ourselves included, continued very high occupancy and continued steady rent growth. And coupled with that, we do have a business plan here of infusing capital into the property.”

Vantage plans to continue to shop around in Philadelphia in its effort to increase its Mid-Atlantic footprint. “There will be other opportunities to expand our presence within Philadelphia, and we are currently considering expanding into some other various markets as well,” Aronstam concluded.